New Egypt comes up short in Group I title decider

New Egypt's Ken Johnston, left, kicks the ball away from a Brearley defender Sunday Nov. 24, 2013 at The College of New Jersey. (Trentonian photo/Jackie Schear)

EWING — Having only been shut out once in 24 games this season, the New Egypt High boys soccer team was not too concerned when it headed to halftime trailing David Brearley High by a goal Sunday night in the NJSIAA Group I state final at The College of New Jersey.

After all, the Warriors had had a goal called back in the first half, and there were still 40 more minutes to play.

The problem was the manner in which the Bears had scored.

Brearley scored less than three minutes into the game, then broke the ice again in the second half with another tally in the first five minutes.

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Try as it would, New Egypt could never regain its poise as the quicker Bears and senior forward Federico de Oliviera ran past the Warriors for a 3-0 win in the state title game.

“They had great team speed, and they really spread us out on this big field,” New Egypt head coach Sam Palumbo said of TCNJ’s Lions Stadium turf.

While Brearley plays its regular season games on grass like the Warriors, it did not look that way as the Bears darted all over the smoother surface.

Leading the charge was de Oliviera, who added two more goals and an assist to give him season totals of 24 tallies and 15 set-ups.

“Props to de Oliviera. He’s fast,” New Egypt senior back Matt Dey said.

“He flies,” Warriors’ 30-goal scorer Travis Ward said of de Oliviera.

That trait helped David Brearley strike first early in both halves.

First, de Oliviera set up his senior running mate Phil Costa for his 13th goal of the season just 2:30 into the match.

“When they scored so quickly in the half, it really brought us down,” Dey said.

Then, 4:46 after intermission, that duo struck again as Costa returned the favor with a long lead to de Oliviera, who slowed down his forward progress, then lifted a ball over the reach of New Egypt second half goalkeeper Connor Ingenbrandt before it dropped into the net’s far corner.

“When you have a finisher who can put the ball away like him, it makes a difference,” Palumbo said of de Oliviera.

The Warriors also have one of those deadly scorers in Ward, but the Bears were able to shut him out by running three players at him, yet somehow still managing to mark up the rest of New Egypt’s attack.

“It was a challenge, but I thought I handled the challenge well,” said Ward, who was only held scoreless six other times this season. “We just couldn’t get anybody free.”

Ward appeared to score and tie the game with 13 minutes left in the first half. However, an obstruction call wiped away the Warriors’ delight and helped Brearley junior goalie Kevin Filipe post his 13th shutout.

With 16:30 left in the second half, Filipe came up with an unbelievable save on Nick Romano. Ingenbrandt responded with a point-blank stop on a de Oliviera shot 27 seconds later.

But when de Oliviera got free once again after receiving a pass from Lucas Scozzaro with 10:42 to go, he held the ball a little longer before netting the final goal.

“We had opportunities. We just didn’t finish,” Palumbo said after his team finished its 22-3 season. “I’m so proud of this team. To play for a state title, after we’d never even won a sectional before, was a wonderful moment.”